Tamil Nadu rains: 'Sudden' rain in Chennai soon? Schools shut amid orange alerts in THESE districts

The northeast monsoon began in Tamil Nadu as overnight rains lashed many districts, especially Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli, from Wednesday.

With the rains expected to continue for a few more hours today, a holiday was declared for schools in the Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Ramanathapuram districts.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain in districts like Theni, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram, as many parts of the state saw more than 100mm of rainfall. Thoothukudi's Thiruchendur area saw the highest rainfall of 146mm.

The IMD adds that there is also a possibility of heavy rain in districts like Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi, Chennai, Madurai, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Erode—all of which received a yellow alert.

Various roads in Tirunelveli have been flooded multiple times over the past three days, with traffic affected due to heavy rains on the Washermanpet Chellapandian flyover, as per a News18 Tamil report.

Although Chennai is currently receiving bright, sunny weather today, independent forecasters say that easterlies (winds coming in from the East) are set to intensify along the coast of Tamil Nadu, all the way up to the south of Pondicherry.

As a result, there is a high chance of "sudden spells" of rain in Chennai and its adjoining suburbs this evening. Rainfall may also continue in the interior parts of the Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanyakumari districts from today afternoon, the forecasters said.

Fishermen have also been advised not to go out into the sea due to squally winds reaching speeds of 35-45km/h, and even 55km/h further out into the sea.

India